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Monthly Archives: September 2009

California sunshine has its perks, but sunburn is not one of them. I pretty much spend my days hiding from the sun, which is quite difficult to master in sun-soaked Southern Cali.

The alternative to this exhausting game of hide and seek, however, is sunscreen.

To be perfectly honest, I am not a fan of the stuff. I don’t enjoy replacing my Philosophy Amazing Grace body lotion with a chalky white substance with a smell that evokes memories of crying children at a public pool.

Unfortunately, the inevitable sun exposure I constantly face has begun to take its toll on my porcelain skin.

So, I set out to find my perfect sunscreen. My requirements for sun protection are as follows:

I want sunscreen that protects and smells good. Just because I am desperate for sun protection that actually works to protect my pale, delicate skin, doesn’t mean I want to forgo any olfactory pleasures.

I want a sunblock that does not leave me chalky and whiter than I already am.

I need a sunscreen that actually delivers the SPF it advertises (many sunscreens deliver a much lower SPF than they claim)

After a brief and unrelated detour at Dash–no, I did not see Khloe, Kim, or Kourtney–I took my hunt for the perfect sunscreen over to The Beauty Collection.

I spent 45 minutes of slathering every lotion imaginable onto my arms, decolletage, ears, and any other spot not covered by clothing.

Rilastil Sunscreen

As soon as I reached the Rilastil display, my search was over. Everything about their sun creme was right: The texture was not greasy, too thick or too thin; the scent is a light, delicate floral essence of something familiar to me that I can’t quite place; and the sun protection factor goes as high as SPF 50+ and are available in lotion or cream form.

Since I sensed that my full-body slathering of Rilastil with the beauty supply store’s tester was not fully appreciated, I decided to go online to do a little research on the Italian skincare line. As it turns out, Rilastil, which was created in 1930 at a pharmacy in Milan, has grown into one of the most popular product lines in Europe. Die-hard fans of this brand include Padma Lakshmi, the uberchic design duo Dolce and Gabbana…and now me.

I may have had a Gwen Stefani sighting but my friend Fahad actually got to met her at the UN recently! He kindly let me borrow/steal/use his pic because I think it’s that cool.

Fahad...and Gwen Stefani at the UN

She was there for a concert at the UN General Assembly Hall that benefits the over 3 million displaced people of the Swat Valley in Pakistan.SSGWI hosted the event, where other artists including Junoon, and Stefani’s husband Gavin Rossdale performed (check out the video here).

Gwen Stefani and a L.A.M.B. model show off their white polish

I really can’t help it, but I zeroed in on Stefani’s solid white nails when I saw this pic, and turns out other beauty writers have taken notice too. At the Spring 2010 L.A.M.B. fashion show, the models were also outfitted in white nails. Can’t help but think it’s going to be popping up more and more early next year. I’ve personally always loved bold white (if you’re nails are short, just a personal preference). I remember painting my nails white when I was a teeny bopper at 13 and my dad really hating it :-/ .

I still have my KO matte white polish at hand which is a little more expensive at $19, but you don’t have to pay that much for white nails.

Sunday was an absolutely GORGEOUS day to run. Seriously couldn’t have hoped for a more beautiful day, and the race went great. But more importantly, and more relevant here, is what we ate afterwards

We were all talking about stuffing our faces in pizza right after, so my fellow runner/friend/foodie Archana introduced us to Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant in Marlton, NJ.

OK I know it’s weird to start off talking about the dinner rolls, but they are seriously worth fussing over. The bread was perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and warm inside. It was a nice departure from the hard, cold rolls you get often enough in NY.

They serve it with olive oil seasoned in garlic, rosemary, red pepper, specks of basil, and other spices. I had to stop myself from filling up on this alone.

Then the main course: brick oven pizza! We ordered three large thin slice pies: the Romagna spinach and ricotta, Tucci veggie pizza with peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and Margherita with mozarella and basil. All were perfectly portioned with toppings, not too oily, and super crispy. I think it’s one of the best pizza places I’ve been to yet.

Romagna pizza, $18.50 for a large

Tucci Veggie pizza, $17.50 for a large

Margherita pizza, $17.50 for a large

I do have one complaint though, and it was nothing to do with the food.

We got there a little before 12pm after our race and it expectedly not busy at all. But for some reason our waitress was still pretty inattentive. In fact, she brought each pizza out on its own stand in one far end of our table and left it there for our party of nine to serve ourselves. We had to request for refills on our drinks multiple times, and she swooped in before we could barely get our last bites in to ask if we were done. The food overcompensated A LOT…but seriously, service could have been a lot better.

Hopefully that’s not a common thing. I’d go back in a heartbeat. By the way, Bertucci’s does have other locations in the Northeast, so check out their website to see if there is one near you: www.bertuccis.com.

I’m off to Philly this weekend to run the half-marathon!! It’s the first time I’m running any kind of long-distance race, so I’m equal parts excited and nervous. I run it on Sunday, so if you don’t hear from me on Monday, you’ll know why! This past month has been a rough one training for it, and I just have to say I have a new found respect for all you people who run full marathons — it’s a lot of work!

Appreciate all the good vibes and encouraging words my friends and family have been sending, and it’s actually a major part in keeping me motivated…so THANK YOU!